Awards ceremonies are a modern phenomenon. But what's it all about, this desire to honour achievement with a knees-up and a statuette?
Inevitably, your view of the value of awards has a fair bit to do with what side of the fence you鈥檙e sitting on. To put it another way, if you win one it feels like a highly significant event; a fair and objective vindication of all your wondrous achievements. But if you鈥檙e nominated and don鈥檛 end up winning, awards are suddenly just the by-product of cynical stich-ups by clueless committees in smoked-filled rooms. And who wants their useless gongs anyway?
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I do - which is why we made the top story on the 大象传媒 Sport website this morning, and also why it stayed there through the whole of the morning, until it was knocked off the top slot by the live cricket.
But someone who uses our 606 website made this point: "Why have the 大象传媒 made this the top story on Sport today? So Beckham's got his opinion, so what?"
It's a fair point. These things are subjective. Spend even the smallest amount of time in our newsroom and you will hear debates about what we 'lead' on.
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Live rugby league is back on the 大象传媒 this weekend with two games from the fourth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup. And for the first time we will have interactive coverage on Saturday with a 30 minute forum following coverage of Warrington v Hull KR (kick-off 2.30pm, 大象传媒 One).
Saturday's tie is the only all-Super League clash of the round and on Sunday 大象传媒 cameras are at the Halton Stadium for Widnes v Wigan (kick-off 2.45pm, 大象传媒 Two).
As editor of both codes of rugby I'm often asked which is my favourite. My answer is simple: I was born and End of, as I believe the vogue phrase goes among young people.
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It鈥檚 not 鈥淭he US Masters鈥濃..It鈥檚 not even 鈥淭he Masters鈥濃..Quite simply it鈥檚 鈥淢asters鈥. It鈥檚 a title that sums up the uniqueness of the first golfing major of the year. The field is set for 97 players but it鈥檚 likely that the two who have won it five out of the last six years will dominate again, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
Whilst my colleagues at 大象传媒 Radio Five Live and the have been following both the European and American tours since the start of the season, for television this is traditionally the start of our year and what better way to tee it off?
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After what had gone before it was no surprise that the RBS Six Nations came to such a dramatic finale last Saturday, and with the last play in Paris the headline writers were rubbing their hands with glee.
Before and after the last round of matches there was talk about whether it was fair that was not happening at the same time as the France v Scotland match, or indeed in Cardiff, and suggestions that all three should have been forced to play at the same time. Thanks for all your comments on the various blogs on this topic.
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I'll come clean - I wish I was in the Caribbean. Sadly I'm stuck in wintry west London right now, but I'm not letting that minor geographical drawback get in the way of my enjoyment of the Cricket World Cup.
On a professional level, there is something about a World Cup that never fails to get the creative juices flowing - events like this tend to have a catalytic affect on the media industry. They have long been the driver for innovation, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and setting new standards of audience expectation. , , - all have been driven forward by their association with World Cups.
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This is some week for the Football Association, and the 大象传媒's football team is pretty much alongside them all the way. Like Steve McClaren, we sweated over the possibility of extra-time in Monday's FA Cup replays. We'd have welcomed it in ratings terms, though it would have been a headache for the schedulers.
On most other fronts, too, we and the FA have been asking the same questions this week - how did that at the end of our live replay; where will the semi-finals be and when; and how will the ; and how will the seniors fare on their travels?
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Oh well, same old story in the Six Nations last weekend with all the usual ingredients - a fairytale comeback at Twickenham, refereeing controversy in Rome, and a charge-down try at Murrayfield.
Throw in another Irish Triple Crown and accusations of an O'Garroting for his fly half from coach Eddie O'Sullivan and there was barely room left in the papers for that .
And the great thing is that after France's Grand Slam ambitions became the last to be thwarted, this week's could see champions crowned out of each of the three final games.
The star of the weekend was . As Austin Healey illustrated at half-time of our broadcast, the normally cool Catt was visibly affected by the preliminaries and was over-anxious in a tight first half such was his keeness to lead his young team by example.
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I don't know what the 大象传媒 Sport weekend just gone looked like at home, but for those of us involved it was one of the most hectic we can remember.
Much as we all love working on the Premiership highlights, and much as those involved are looking forward to the challenge of getting the highlights on the air, there's nothing like live sport to get the adrenaline flowing.
From Middlesbrough to Rome and Murrayfield to Plymouth, 大象传媒 ONE was virtually a sports channel for the weekend. Three topsy-turvy Six Nations games and three full-blooded FA Cup ties, including an absolute classic. All fiercely competitive and too tight to call. And if you watched all six, congratulations, and hope you're still on speaking terms with anyone who shares your remote control!
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We're sometimes told off for allegedly being obsessed by audience figures, but this time a number of people have emailed to ask for the viewing figures for our busy weekend of sport - so here they are.
The headline is that a total of 23.8m people in the UK saw some of the Six Nations or the FA Cup on the 大象传媒 - that's four in 10 of the population.
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It's a simple fact that broadcasters get more complaints than compliments.
True of life in general, I suppose. We may tonk in a letter of protest or complain to the boss if we have a bad time in a restaurant, but I've never written admiringly to a chef.
Equally, I sometimes come away from a trip to the theatre thinking what a great performance a particular actor has given - but it feels a bit naff to go home and start writing the fan mail.
So this entry's unusual in that it starts with praise.
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"How was Super Saturday for you?" we asked on the Six Nations blog this week.
It was an important question as last Saturday was the first time outside the final day of the last three championships that all three games have happened on the one day.
The 大象传媒 does not have responsibility for the scheduling of the RBS Six Nations. That lies with the championship's committee.
But of course as broadcast partners we have an interest and were keen to see how this day would be received.
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